Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano

This article focused on depopulation via smallpox. “Within just a few generations, the continents of the Americas were virtually emptied of their native inhabitants – some academics estimate that approximately 20 million people may have died in the years following the European invasion – up to 95% of the population of the Americas.” The article goes on to describe the transmission process of smallpox, incubation period, and symptoms of the disease. It then discusses the fact that diseases such as smallpox, influenza and measles were a product of the European society, specifically livestock farming and close interaction with domesticated livestock. Though smallpox outbreaks would occur in Europe, killing major portions of the population, some would survive and build immunities which they genetically passed to the next generations. Because the Native Americans had no exposure to smallpox and no genetic immunities, exposure to this virus was deadly all across the continent. “More victims of colonization were killed by Eurasian germs, than by either the gun or the sword, making germs the deadliest agent of conquest.”

In chapter one Conquerors and Victims: The Image of America Forms (1500-1800) Gonzalez talks about the impact upon the arrival of the Europeans to America. This arrival was categorized as “the greatest and most important event in the history of human kind”. Spain and England were two countries that had a big impact on our modern world and transplanted their cultures around the territories they took over. Both countries created their empires in which they established on their identities and viewpoint of their language and social customs. Upon their arrival the native population was outnumbered, many of which live around Mexico’s Valley and others populate the Central Andes region and Rio Grande.

This section highlights that history has created a false narrative depicting the natives as a victimized people, which they were to some extent but only in the fashion that they did not possess the same technology for warfare, immunity of communal diseases transmitted, and they were not anticipating combat. All other factors considered, the natives stood to be a potential threat. In regards to knowledge obtained by Spaniards prior to arrival and knowledge gained from observation, it would be remiss had they not prepared for battle. This argument is not to be misconstrued in approving their actions; I do recognize colonization as an evil for both the reasons employed and its damaging effects, but rather to change the narrative surrounding that of the native people. While they did experience a tragedy, I feel that it is erroneous to write them into history as being incompetent resulting from their

Colonization of Latin America is the central conflict of its history because its effects as still prevalent in the socioeconomics and politics of modern-day Latin American countries. It is because of the colonization of Latin America by the Iberians that today, the Latin American people are a multiethnic people with many descending from Europeans or Africans. The Iberians conquest resulted in the death, displacement, or enslavement of countless natives, which in turn further increased the power and draw of the encomienda system. As the encomienda system grew and became more extensive, the native population diminished and the transatlantic, African slave trade became more commonplace. This caused the multiethnic societies of Latin America today and created a social structure consisting

Before Europeans landed in the Americas, Native Americans lived within various complex societies across modern day North and South America. Two of the greatest empires that existed at the time were the Aztecs located in modern central Mexico or at the time it was called Mesoamerica and the Incas located in modern Peru, these societies were unique because they were ruled by kings, nobles and warriors whereas most North American Natives were ruled by chiefdoms. North American Native’s religion consisted of animist quality- a belief that the natural world had spiritual powers. They applied this belief to everyday life- praying to be exempt from disease, good crops, and plenty of food. Some societies amongst many North American Natives were matriarchal for example in the Iroquois society power and possessions were passed down through the female line of authority. Most women were gatherers and watched over the towns and men hunted for food for their families, maize agriculture was popular amongst the Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes Natives. The Native Americans traded extensively before the Europeans arrived, for example there were annual trade fairs between the Navajos, Apaches and the Pueblos. In 1521, Hernan Cortes arrived in Mesoamerica and quickly overcame the Aztecs, not only by force but also disease. Europeans unknowingly brought many diseases, such as smallpox, influenza and measles, that the Native Americans were never exposed to and it was one of the biggest killers of the Natives. At first, Europeans forced Native Americans to be slaves and work on their plantations but soon they were replaced with the African slave.

The Native Americans once thrived on the rich land of the Americas, and they built a long-lasting civilization with the help of nature, gods, and organized roles within the tribes. However, the thriving population plummeted after their encounter with diseases and forced labor brought upon them by the Spanish and Portuguese conquistadores. Although at first the conquistadores mistreatment of Native Americans seem shallow and unethical, their conquest of the Americas only partially reflects the claims of the English Black Legends..

By the 1800s, Europe had gained considerable power- centrally governed nation-states had emerged and the Industrial Revolution had deeply enriched different country’s economies. Advances in science and technology, industry, transportation, and communication provided Western nations with many advantages. Encouraged by their new military and economic prestige, European countries embarked on a path of aggressive expansion that today’s historians call “New Imperialism (1800-1914).” Europeans brought much of the world under their influence and control, dominating various countries politically, economically, and culturally. Though the West reaped the benefits of foreign imperialism, native peoples felt its harmful effects. For example, in Document

The approaches Britain and Spain had towards colonization were reflected in their treatment of Native Americans. Ultimately, both countries were primarily interested in the expansion of their empires, the enrichment of their economies and their own political power, and their treatment of the natives is indicative of these aims. As Spain’s only purpose for colonization was to conquer land for their empire, the

Created large landed estates 2. Europeans came to Americas for economic gain and social mobility 3. Exploited precious metals like Silver 3. II. Spaniards and Portuguese A. Introduction a. Tradition of military

Many thought that the beginning of the Colombian trade network was unnecessary to Europe’s success. In Document 4, Bernardin de Saint Pierre says while the trade between Africa, Europe, and the Americas benefitted Europe, it also caused “unhappiness of two great regions of the world [America and Africa].” Because of trade, African and Native American societies were reduced to give luxury to European societies. This did not help the common global good, and it was unfair international trade because the Europeans were getting sugar, something which is not a necessity, while the New World and Africa lost two very necessary items for a successful community: people and land. Another negative effect of globalization was the number of casualties between the interaction of the Native Americans and the Europeans. Whether it was on purpose or not, many Native Americans dies “not as a result of hard labor...but because of contagious diseases [of the Europeans]”(D’Souza). Native Americans had a high increase in casualties because of the deadly diseases being spread through the Colombian trade

Reséndez’s emphasis on the Europeans’ actions rather than the European disease changes the perspective of colonial studies and supplements, rather than replaces, existing theories of depopulation like Crosby’s epidemic theory. It assigns active responsibility to Europe for the decimation of native populations (Reséndez, conversation in HIST 900, 2017). By addressing the European responsibility for Native American decimation, Reséndez transforms the existing narrative of Europe’s impact on the New World and redefines the story of the depopulation of Native American tribes.

The Spanish exploration of America brought many new foods, types of plants, and many forms of wealth to the European world. However, the wealth that was brought from the Americas came at a cost. The suffering and enslavement of the Native people and the transportation of Africans to America to be used as slaves alongside the Natives. Many motivations were used to support this extraction of wealth and treatment of the Natives and Africans, however two are easily verifiable. The Spanish colonization from 1492 to 1700 was motivated by religious conversion of all peoples in America and the desire for wealth and profit that had a significant impact on the lives of Native Americans and Africans.

The way of life significantly changed for the Native Americans after Europeans imposed the Columbian exchange into the New World. Along with the exchange of livestock and plants came unprecedented and unintentional deadly diseases that, in turn, practically wiped out the Native American population as a whole (textbook, 19). The decimation of the population occurred at alarming rates, which affected the trade of products between countries. The natives were not massacred by the popular belief of guns and knives, but 95% of the indigenous population was killed by exposure to European disease, like smallpox and the sheer epidemic of it (PBS). The Columbian Exchange brought on by the Europeans was to blame for the countless fatalities of Native Americans. The exchange was altered because of diseases that reshaped the Columbian Exchange as a whole, meaning infecting and spreading illness from livestock, crops growing without a means of processing or distribution, and an economical instability regarding wealth and lifestyle in other parts of the world. This began when the natives were incapable to work due to the crippling ailments that onset in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. For all of these reasons, the Columbian Exchange was made more difficult in exchanging goods from the New World to Europe, South America and Africa.

Ever since the people from Spain came to Latin America, everything changed. The only reason they came was for three things, gold, god and glory. The native americans saw what they brought like horses and guns. Not only did they came with these new goods the natives never saw before, the spaniards decided to treat them as slaves and take their goods to Spain. This was known as the Columbian Exchange since the natives would give their goods to Spain, and Spain would bring their goods to Latin America. During this Columbian Exchange, the natives got diseases that the spaniards carried with them, causing lots of them to die. Since the spaniards had most

Eduardo Galeano, Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1997